


Plant Food

by mrgoldsdearie



Series: Nygmobblepot Ficlets [15]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, horror movie au, little shop of horrors au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 03:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11774130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrgoldsdearie/pseuds/mrgoldsdearie
Summary: Little Shop of Horrors AU: Oswald walks in and Edward feeding The Ozzie Two, but Oswald isn't terrified. He decides to help.





	Plant Food

“So—” Oswald brushes his hand across the large leaf of the city’s newest attraction— “where do you get the food?”, he asks of his fellow colleague, who works alongside him at Mrs. Mooney’s Flowers.

He’s seen Edward Nygma feeding the strange plant just moments before entering the show room. He knows the giant plant is an unusual species of flytrap, possibly something new, and that the contents it consumes must be as odd as the blooming plant itself.

Edward glances down at the crimson stains on his jittering hand, hesitating what to say to the man he has admired since he laid eyes on him. If only they didn’t live in the slums of Gotham, maybe their lives could be different.

“I saw you feeding The Ozzie Two, Ed,” Oswald adds with a smile on his face.

Edward had named the plant after him when he found it and saying the name always sends thrills down his spine. Edward couldn’t think of a more beautiful person to honor when naming his discovery.

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Oswald goes on to say. “She ate straight from your hand.”

“Well, Th-Th-The Ozzie T-T-Two is….”, Edward pauses looking down at his hands again, somewhat embarrassed of his stammer.

Oswald and Mrs. Mooney, the woman who saved Edward from the orphanage when he was a boy, would never speak down on the way he talks. It’s one of the things they both agree that Edward shouldn’t feel ashamed about. It’s probably the only thing Mrs. Mooney admires about him, at least that’s what Edward thinks.

“What were you saying, Ed?”, Oswald asks, tipping his head slightly to the right.

Flashes of what he had to do to acquirer the plant’s food plays in Edward’s mind with vividly graphic images.

“Ed?”

“Yes!”, he burst out, slapping his hands down to his sides.

“Are you alright?” Oswald lays a hand on Edward’s shoulder. He’s noticed Edward has been very tired lately. He hope the fast pace of the booming business in the shop isn’t weighing on him physically.

“Yes, I’m f-f-fine.”

“Okay. I worry about you, Ed.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do. You’re a good friend of mine.”

“You really th-th-think of me as a friend?”

Oswald beams. Edward’s low brows of uncertainty squishes his face in an adorable way. He think the taller man resembles a puppy. “Yes, Edward,” he assures him. “I’ve always thought if you as a friend.”

Edward’s cheeks turn a rosy tinge and he turns his head away to conceal his blush, but Oswald can still see his passionate emotion.

“Because we’re friends, I don’t mind if you want to keep what you feed the plant a secret,” Oswald explains. “I was just curious because I saw what looked to be a pice of a dead animal going into her mouth.”

The soft color fades from Edward’s features when he hears what Oswald saw and he gasps lightly. Why is Oswald still here if he saw so much already?

“Seeing you feeding it made me think that The Ozzie might be one of those plants that feeds on environmental waste.” Oswald can’t name any plant that do off of the top of his head at the moment, and with the way Edward glares back at him doesn’t do anything to help him think. “Just by the look on your face, I know it’s a silly idea.”

Edward blinks to erase his shock. “Oh, no. It’s not s-s-silly at all.” He closes some of the gap between them. “You’re ac-actually kind of right.”

Oswald’s eyes widen with awe. “I am?”

“Yes.” Ed quickly nods.

“That’s unbelievable,” he says with excitement edging his voice. “I knew it was a incredible plant and that you’d be the best person to take care of it when you first brought it in. You’re a brilliant man, Mr. Nygma.”

“I’m not b-b-brilliant.” Edward should feel proud of the praises he receives for taking care of a species no one seems to know, but he can’t find pleasure in what he has to do to keep The Ozzie Two alive. “I’m just a man th-th-that’s a slave to his plant.”

“You’re not a slave, Ed,” Oswald insists. Edward is the most intelligent and caring man he’s ever known. He shouldn’t look down on himself so harshly. “You’re not a slave to anyone and I think…”

Both men’s attention are taken from each other when the large heavy head on The Ozzie Two starts to sway and crash to the floor.

Edward quickly grabs Oswald by the shoulder and pulls him into his chest. The plant nearly crushed the raven haired man.

Oswald’s breathes heavily and he looks up to into the dark chocolate eyes of the man holding him. “You saved me.”

“I d-did.”

“Thank you.”

They remain in each other’s arms longer than either had expected -hearts rapidly beating as one.

Edward suddenly closes his eyes to break their longing connection. “I have to f-f-finish feeding her.” He lets go of Oswald and takes a step back. “S-S-She can get stub-stubborn when she doesn’t g-get a full meal.”

“I can help you.” Oswald points down at the black trash bag on the floor next to the large terracotta flower pot. “You were feeding her from that leaking sack.” He bends down to pick it up and before Edward could snatch the bag from his hands, he peeks inside.

Oswald didn’t know what kind of animal he would see inside the plastic bag. Since he thought the plant ate ‘environmental waste’ seeing the bag dripping with a thick red substance didn’t cause him to second guess what was inside it. Now laying eyes on what the plant actually eats everything about Edward’s behavior is perfectly clear.

“It eats human flesh?”, Oswald asks plainly, dropping the bag to the floor.

“Oswald, th-th-this is n-n-not w-what it s-seems,” Edward stammers out. His stutters more dominant because of the fear of what Oswald will say or do next.

“It’s exactly how it seems. There’s a human arm in that bag.”

Edward pushes the glasses up on the bridge of his nose - unsure of what he could say to explain himself.

“Who’s arm is it, Ed?” Oswald demands to know to truth, but he doesn’t raise his voice at Edward. He only seeks to understand what’s really happening.

Edward stands stuck with all his cards spread on the table. What’s the point of lying now? He closes his eyes and lowers his head with shame. “Edward Nashton,” he answers clearly.

“Did you know him?”

“He was the man th-th-that used to beat me when I was a ch-child before I ran away.”

Oswald takes a moment to think. He’s heard a few stories when Edward talked about his past with Mrs. Mooney. The man Ed ran away from sounded like a true monster. “He was your father?”

Edward nods unable to bring himself to speak, then unexpectedly feels a warm touch on his shoulder. He looks up to find Oswald gazing at him sympathetically.

“Did he deserve it?”, he asks, stepping over the bloody bag to stand closer to Edward.

“Yes.”

In this unpredictable situation, Oswald funds no fear or disgust in his heart over what Edward had done. He isn’t sure if he would have this same reaction if he found himself standing here with another. He feels nothing but respect for Edward in taking action against someone who’s caused him nothing but pain. Maybe he could be so brave against the one hurting him.

“Good,” Oswald says eventually.

“You’re n-n-not upset?”, he asks, unsure if Oswald is really more remarkable than he had imagined.

“Why should I be? You’ve hurt no one who didn’t deserve it.” He takes Edward by both hands. “I also think you shouldn’t have to deal with this alone. Let me help you, Edward.”

Edward jaw drops and he blink to try to make sense of everything, but his mind still can’t. “R-Really?”

“I wouldn’t still be standing here if I didn’t mean it.” A chuckle escapes Oswald’s lips. He can’t help but to see this as ironical funny in someway. A plant that eats human flesh is like something he’s always wanted but didn’t know it existed. “And you’d be dragged from this place in handcuffs by now.”

Edward hearts skips a beat. Is this all really happening or could he be living in another nightmare from his lack of sleep?

“Besides—” Oswald gently squeezes Edward’s hands to further show Ed that he truly means what he speaks— “I know a few people that could be plant food,” he says with a fiendish smirk.

Edward takes pleasure in the smile on Oswald’s face. A look like that could be nothing more than reality. His imagination could never conjure up something so stunning.

As he stares upon the smile stretched across Oswald’s lips and the warmth of their hands entwined together, Edward isn’t sure of exactly what just happened. He’s grateful that it did happen and that he no longer has to deal with the plants needs on his own anymore.

He and Oswald are now partners in the fertilizer department so to speak. Maybe this dark bond could grow something more between them.

“Wh-Who’s on your list?”, Edward asks and Oswald spills the name of the man who’s hurt him physically and mentally.

“Dr. Hugo Strange.”

“What a c-coincidence….. He was on my list too.”


End file.
